Art Student's Thesis Short Film for Mental Health Awareness

Who I Am, What I'm Making

Hi! I'm Willow (she/her). I am a 23-year-old, multidisciplinary art student majoring in Photography. I'm in my final semester of university and am working on a semi-autobiographical short that combines live-action with stop-motion animation to tell the story of how I experience and navigate the confusing ambivalent feelings that come from grieving the death of an estranged parent who had psychologically abused me. 

Thesis Statement & End Goal for this Short Film

Grief for someone lost is a universal experience that--curiously--can vary in its expression depending on who is grieving and who was lost. I've found in my research (and personal experience) that grief is also not so simple and clear-cut as moving through a popular set of "five stages" of emotions and never having to feel them again after.

My project seeks to illuminate my personal experience with grief to help others become more informed about its complexities and complications so that they may feel more validated and hopeful in their own experiences of grief, or become better prepared to support others who experience it.

Brief Synopsis of Plot

Without detailing any specific abuse I suffered, the film centers around a situation where I am going about my day and something in my environment triggers a weirdly fond memory of the person I lost that is so vivid it almost feels real. The film focuses on recollections of my own feelings/sensations that I got when I was around the person, and then the different strategies that my inner voice then tries to use to fight the negative feelings and memories. At the end, it becomes clear that the only way out is to wait for the moment of intense grief to wash over me until it dissipates, and then keep going on about my day (and life) as I was before.

Real World Significance of this Project, and Where You Can Fit In

This video art project will be shown in a gallery exhibit, open to the public, that my classmates and I are organizing for our huge, Bachelor of Fine Arts graduation exhibit. It's meant to be the most ambitious work I have made so far. The piece aims to be an emotionally charged, perspective-shifting artwork that reaches and helps people who may have suffered a significant loss in their lives, and help others gain a richer empathic understanding of people who have suffered such losses so that they may be better support for them. 

If you feel like this is something meaningful to you, well, it is for me, too! Please volunteer to lend me your voice. I'd be happy to give warm recommendations, and if you happen to be in the area of the show once it's up, I'll invite ya to the reception!